For a composer with
such an impressive body of work as Howard
Blake it is scandalous that he should
be known by only a few pieces – the
most famous being his score for the
animated film The Snowman. His
music is readily approachable, quite
often has a smile on its face (a characteristic
of the composer himself), and his catalogue
is frighteningly diverse, ranging from
music for The Avengers ("A
glass of champagne, Mrs Peel?")
to scores for some 60 films, including
Ridley Scott’s The Duellists
(available on Airstrip One AOD HB 002),
and far too much concert music to begin
listing here. This year he turns 70
and shows no signs of slowing down,
having recently completed a stunning
String Quartet, named Spieltrieb,
and started work on his 1st
Symphony!

This is a timely re–issue,
to coincide with his birthday on 28
October, featuring three concertos,
one each for piano, cello and orchestra.
The Piano Concerto was commissioned
by the Philharmonia Orchestra to celebrate
the 30th birthday of Princess
Diana, who was the orchestra’s patron.
Blake was promised a pianist of the
calibre of Kissin as soloist so he wrote
a true virtuoso work only to be told,
as he reached the end of the composition
that, as no–one was available, he would
have to play it himself. He rose to
the challenge, despite having never
played a Piano Concerto in his life,
and gave the première in the
Royal Festival Hall, in London, shortly
after making this recording.

In the usual three
movements, and, as with his Violin
Concerto (available on ASV CDDCA
905), the first movement takes up the
bulk of the playing time, it is a joyous
piece, starting with the simplest and
most innocent of ideas – and what an
idea it is, pregnant with possibilities
– which returns in the finale and is
transformed at first into a musical
box idea, then a fugue and finally a
rhumba! These two fast movements – Blake
is a master at writing sustained fast
music, which is none too easy and is
seldom encountered in so much music
of today – enclose a tender slow movement
which truly has an heart of gold. The
piano writing is of the most virtuoso
kind, the orchestration is colourful
and always interesting – just listen
to the wonderful writing for brass –
especially the horns – at the beginning
of the recapitulation of the first movement.
It sends shivers down my spine every
time I hear it – which is often. Nobody
can afford to miss this, one of the
truly memorable Piano Concertos of the
last century for it is fine stuff indeed.
I will stick my neck out and say that,
for me, it is the most sheerly joyous
Piano Concerto since Ravel’s
in G.

The Diversions
is a more serious and complicated work.
Originally written for cello and piano,
in 1973, it was a meeting with the great
French cellist Maurice Gendron, eleven
years later, which brought about a full
scale concerto piece and the orchestration
was completed in 1985. In eight movements,
some very short, the work shows the
cello off to great advantage in richly
romantic music, the soloist quite often
singing its heart out in wide ranging
melodies or showing off its agility
with rapid passage work. There’s an
extended Aria (movement 5), a
wonderfully Gallic Serenade (movement
6) and the work ends with a riotous
finale. The cello repertoire still isn’t
as big as it should be, given the amount
of fine players around, and this is
a valuable addition to the catalogue.
Cohen is one of this country’s best
players and he is grossly under represented
on disk so it’s good to have this example
of his work. He plays with total conviction,
as if he’s been playing the work all
his life, and it’s a thrilling performance,
brilliantly accompanied by the Philharmonia.

To end, the orchestra
itself comes under the spotlight. First
the woodwind, with gloriously gamboling
bassoons, entertain us, soon joined
by the horns. Gradually all the various
instruments join in until the full orchestra
has entered the game. This, however,
is no display piece in the manner of
Young Person’s Guide or the Bartók
Concertofor Orchestra.
The tempo is fairly relaxed, there’s
much humour – Blake is a very funny
man and I can hear him now doing impressions
or telling stories of the people he
has known and worked with – and, in
a way, it’s as much a portrait of the
composer as it is a work celebrating
the orchestra.

This disk must not
be missed on any account for it contains
music by a much under-rated composer
whose voice is clear and well focused,
who can communicate with his audience,
can write fluently and with great confidence
for the full orchestra and, best of
all, knows how to entertain. The performances
are magnificent, the sound gloriously
full and rich and the notes from the
original (1991) issue by the much missed
Christopher Palmer, who also produced
the disk, although out of date in some
respects, are a lesson in how to write
clearly and without fuss about music.

Beg, steal or borrow
the money to buy this disk, for, once
heard, you’ll not want to be without
this marvellous music.

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